As fellow humans trapped in the same instance, the girls didn't mind offering a little help, whether out of kindness or common sense.
Of course, some people believed everyone should mind their own business. In a place like an instance, not making things worse for others was already enough. Helping people was asking for trouble—utterly foolish.
Neither attitude was right or wrong.
After all, people could never truly understand one another. All they needed to do was respect each other.
A moment later.
Kaguya and Yukino joined them one after another. Both were alone, so they had evidently encountered no other players.
But when Hayasaka walked over, someone was clearly trailing behind her.
"Huh?" Fujiwara Chika's eyes widened. She couldn't help murmuring, "That little girl behind Hanamori-chan... could she be a player?"
"That's right, she is." Hayasaka Ai gave a small nod and said casually, "When we were lining up to hand in our earnings just now, I saw her trembling, on the verge of tears. So I went over and exchanged the code words with her, and confirmed that Mika was a player."
"H-hello, everyone..." The little girl behind Hayasaka spoke timidly. She seemed rather shy, and bowed deeply before saying in a small voice, "My name is Sakurai Mika. I've only cleared two instances so far... It's nice to meet you. Please be kind to me."
Clearly, this random player had a completely different personality from the green tea girl.
"Nice to meet you, Mika-chan," Fujiwara Chika said brightly. "We'll help you clear the instance."
"Th-thank you..."
Random Player Number Two thanked them gratefully.
Banding together to survive was human nature. A newbie like her naturally wouldn't refuse to join a group, especially since Hayasaka had just helped her for free.
After waiting a little longer, Miss Mitsui,